Russell T Davies adapts It's A Sin for stage show

Russell T Davies and the Pet Shop Boys are adapting hit Channel 4 drama It's A Sin for a dance production to be premiered in Manchester.

Davies, 62, created the award-winning TV series, which followed a group of gay men and their friends as they navigated the UK's HIV and Aids crisis throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Production companies, Rambert and Factory International, have revealed the TV producer will be teaming up with the pop duo to reimagine It's A Sin as an immersive, theatrical performance.

Davies, who also wrote Manchester-set drama Queer As Folk, and the Pet Shop Boys will produce the stage show which will premiere at Aviva Studios, with a date yet to be announced.

"It's A Sin was such a special show for me," said Davies, who is orginally from Swansea.

"It's one of the greatest honours of my life to have the show transformed by Rambert into something new and exciting."

Pet Shop Boys members Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe said: "The original TV drama was a landmark series which compellingly presented the reality and tragedy of the Aids crisis to a mass audience."

Speaking about their chart-topping single, It's A Sin, which the show was named after, they said: "Our song was contemporary with the crisis and we are proud to be involved as this poignant and important story is interpreted in a different medium."

The critically acclaimed series aired in 2021 and starred Olly Alexander and Callum Scott Howells, and also featured Stephen Fry, Tracy-Ann Oberman and US actor Neil Patrick Harris.

The stage production will combine contemporary dance and cinematic visuals to tell an immersive story, with set and video design by Luke Halls Studio.

The musicians will also work closely with American singer Roman GianArthur, who will compose the music for the show.

It will be choreographed and directed by Rambert's artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer, who will also co-write the script with dramaturg Kaite O'Reilly.

Pouffer said: "Storytelling sits at the heart of Rambert's mission.

"This is a story we feel compelled to tell right now, and collaborating with Russell - one of the most powerful storytellers of our time - is incredibly exciting.

"Together we're exploring how dance and choreography can carry urgent, emotional narratives in a visceral way.

"I can't wait to share this with audiences, and there is so much more still to come as the work evolves."

John McGrath, Factory International artistic director and chief executive, said: "Russell T Davies is an icon, and the story he tells in It's A Sin has resonated with all ages.

"Rambert will no doubt re-tell the story with great vision and beauty.

"We can't wait to premier this collaboration at our home, Aviva Studios, before sharing it with an exceptional group of national and international co-producers."

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